Big Brother can watch me drive

As a technologist, I have felt compelled to experiment with various technologies that broadcasted where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with. As a result of such experiments over the years, I have reached the conclusion that future generations will live in a more ethical society as a direct result of technology.

As a technologist, I have felt compelled to experiment with various technologies that broadcasted where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with. As a result of such experiments over the years, I have reached the conclusion that future generations will live in a more ethical society as a direct result of technology. To understand how I arrive at this conclusion, it might be helpful to start with a discussion of ethics.

While I was in business school at the University of Minnesota, I took a class from Dr. Ian Maitland. The quick-and-easy ethical test he shared was unforgettable: If you are facing an ethical dilemma, ask yourself if you would take the same action if everything you were about to think and do would immediately become known to the rest of the world. If your actions would not be the same with full public disclosure, then they might be unethical.

It stands to reason then, that if modern technology makes it more likely that the rest of the world will actually know or could more easily find out what you are thinking and doing, then one legacy of technology might be a more ethical society. Acknowledging the Orwellian caveats that such a loss of privacy brings along with it, my conclusion doesn’t change even if a portion of the population doesn’t use the technology—because one doesn’t have to be an active user to be affected by this societal change.

For example, in one recent experiment, I used Facebook to "check in" to a number of venues and tagged my brother as being in attendance. Now, while my brother could have (and likely now will) revoked my rights to tag his location online, even such privacy settings cannot prevent me from Tweeting that I was "with my brother Joe at The Bedford in Chicago." So, while people will have some ability to protect their privacy in a world dominated by social media, the future will certainly be more Orwellian than I ever expected it to be.

The funny thing is that if you take my logic one step further, technology should even cause unethical people to become more honest–assuming that dishonest folks don’t want to get caught being unethical. So, if technology makes it generally more likely that the truth will come out eventually, then wouldn't that result in unethical people being more ethical too? After a few generations, wouldn't this "habit" start to become encoded in our DNA?

I am certainly aware of people's privacy concerns vis-à-vis modern technology—but I am hopefully optimistic that some balance can be struck. This balance will no-doubt require a lot more awareness about how to protect people’s private information—but ultimately, given that the last year has arguably seen entire governments fall as a result of the power of social media, I do not believe we will ever get the genie back in the bottle.

CHRISTOPHER GLENN is a Peoria-based technology futurist, inventor, author, lecturer and entrepreneur. He can be reached at christopher.j.glenn@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @NetThink.

Author: Christopher Glenn

Christopher Glenn has worked with companies around the world exploring how emerging technology impacts the way we work and live. As an adjunct professor in Computer Science at Bradley University, Christopher also helps tomorrow's leaders understand the influence technology will have on our future society. He can be reached at christopher.j.glenn@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @NetThink.
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